Warden Watch

Australia: Automated Decision-Making Privacy Policy Disclosures (Privacy Act 1988, APP 1.7–1.9)

AustraliaLegislationEnacted, upcoming

Part 15 of the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 amends Schedule 1 (Australian Privacy Principle 1) of the Privacy Act 1988 to introduce an automated decision-making (ADM) transparency obligation. Applicable to regulated Australian Privacy Principle (APP) entities, the law requires organizations to update their publicly available privacy policies to disclose the use of computer programs that make, or do something substantially and directly related to making, decisions that could reasonably be expected to significantly affect the rights or interests of individuals. The statutory threshold explicitly encompasses decisions impacting employment opportunities, contracts, or access to significant services. When triggered, entities must disclose the kinds of personal information used, as well as the kinds of decisions made solely or assisted by ADM systems.

Impact

What this means for HR and vendors

HR and recruitment teams

HR and recruitment teams using automated screening, resume ranking, or algorithmic performance tools must audit their talent tools ahead of the statutory deadline. Because decisions affecting employment opportunities fall within the threshold of significantly affecting rights or interests, employers using covered ADM must update their external privacy policies. HR teams should coordinate with procurement and vendor management to identify whether third-party recruitment software uses personal information to make or assist candidate decisions.

HR technology vendors

HR technology vendors supplying candidate screening, video interview evaluation, or talent management systems into Australia face client compliance expectations. While the direct duty to publish an APP privacy policy falls on the regulated deployer (APP entity), providers must supply technical clarity regarding how their systems handle personal data and whether outputs are advisory or determinative. Systems that arrange for fully automated or substantially decisive candidate ranking will require deployers to make explicit disclosures.

Key obligations

What organizations need to do

Practical obligation briefings focused on what the requirement is, who it applies to, when it applies and what teams should consider doing.

DeployerTransparency & Notice

Privacy Policy Disclosure of Automated Decision-Making

OBLIGATION
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Employment-focused extraction

This may be part of wider regulation. The Warden Watch extracts and displays the parts relevant to employment, HR and recruitment decision-making.

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